December 2006 - The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray, tshghho now let's keep these bugs at bay

[LenniEd]

I got all brave and made us a new bug free thread...

I did not have a good night. Grrr.

Sorry things didn't go very well with leaving ds. When you say he cried for 2 hours, I assume they were comforting him? Obviously you don't want to have him crying but so long as he knows his grandparents pretty well and is generally happy with them then it isn't the same as him just screaming his head off if he is being offered comfort by someone he knows. Not that that is much confort I know, I stressed so much the first time we left ds overnight and that was only last August! Hopefully they will have learned with dd wetting the bed and will remember.

Sorry to hear about crying babies and sleepless nights. Ds2 was up until almost 11 last night jabbering away We went to the lake today and purposely skipped nap in the hopes he will go down earlier tonight.

Midsummer and sleep

LenniEd, that sounds upsetting re GPs and LOs...I am dreadful at leaving mine if upset, so do sympathise. It does also depend on the GPs though, as to how much you trust them/how receptive they are to learning from experience..?

dd2 is going through a clingy phase atm, which is annoying at times and upsetting at others - depending on who I'm leaving her with, etc. Wonder if it coincides with toilet training, nursery induction etc or is it just developmental phase? Can't remember a thing from first time around...

Castles, how are the DC? Flu? Lots round here, have started the dds on their preventers early this year, and am going to chat with the asthma nurse on Thursday. dh has got his plan in place, and we're stocked up on Calpol etc. Makes me feel like a well-prepared soldier

Jabber, Indith and LenniEd, hope you all get some decent sleep tonight...

Eli, DD2 is clingy. Must be their age!

DS & DD1 are back at school, thanks for asking, but DD1 still isn't in her plate (as they say in france ). Need to ring GP to get test results later.

Sorry about the lack of sleep. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't had a decent night sleep for 2 weeks now and my youngest is 2.5 (or something like that!)

Lennied, I've always found there are consequences to leaving the DCs with anyone overnight (only GPs in our case). You have to weigh it up and decide if it's worth it. I don't leave them with my mum anymore, it just is not worth the aggro. Up until now have gritted my teeth and left them with MIL (once a year max) but even that has taken it's course I think

Well DH had a firm 'chat' with MIL today and made it very clear that we wanted to know if either of them was upset and that there is no heroism in keeping them there if they clearly don't want to be with PILs, we'd rather know and come home and deal with it. MIL seemed to think she'd of upset us if she called to say he was crying and they couldn't settle him, when it was more upsetting to know he'd been crying that long unneccesarily since we were only up the road. As for DD, MIL is now under strict instructions to put the baby monitor on during the night as much as she hates the damned thing. I'm feeling very proud of DH, about bloody time too! They love having DD and are fantastic with her but they are reluctant to have them both which I'm fine with, but they aren't getting to know DS at all which doesn't help. I do trust them though.

Castles - it must be hard with no one to have yours at all, do you have any friends you could trade babysitting with that you trust? I think that is going to have to be the next option to look at for us. I have one close friend I would trust and they know well but it is a big step, I don't think I'd do it until DS is more like 2yo perhaps. And probably not even then.

I only leave mine with family overnight. My mum or the PILs have them occasionally but never have any trouble with them . Ds2 sleeps through for them and they all sleep in til a reasonable time in the morning (7:30 or so). Why the hell they can't do that for me I don't know . Although it all goes in our favour because they don't mind doing it again, so I'm not complaining too much!

Bad sleep here too, atm. DS2 (no surprise there then) is very unsettled but doesn't seem to know why he's awake or want comforting. Hey ho, it'll pass at some point, as usual.

Both dcs currently chattering in bed. It's 9:30 here so not too terribly past bedtime

Family reunion weekend coming up. Am at the same time excited and a bit as it turns into something rather like herding cats but they will all be gone on Sunday...

Let me rephrase first sentence: ds1 very quiet (could be the melatonin) ds2 now yelling but in a very good-natured way.

I am fretting over swine flu. There are talks of vaccination in the fall and with ds1's issues I really don't want to have to deal with that

Ds1 has spent the night with gp's with great success but not sure when they would be up to having both of them as my parents are well into their '70's. Also wondering if my mother is still coherent enough. The air conditioner at their house went on the blink temporarily and she had ds1 praying with her about it she is fully aware that dh and I are not in agreement with them about things like that. I am now dreading the "talk" that will have to come...although dh and I did have quite a giggle wondering who exactly is the patron saint of air conditioners

lol at patron saint of air con Jabber!

I think it is a sad fact of having children later in life (in my case anyway) that you don't get any free childcare. My parents are young still (though disinterested) but I'm not Lennied, I have one local friend who would help me out but she has her hands full with 2 plus recent bereavement and tiny house and I just don't think I could do it to her overnight as she is so kind and it would be quite hard for her esp with all DS's ishoos. Sigh.

DH and I had a blazing row last night over the ILs. Sigh. They invited the children and him down for the weekend and not me (quite clearly) to see my BIL/SIL/cousins from Middle East. He told me I had got the wrong end of the stick (er, no, MIL does stuff like this all the time) and then that I always ruin everything. I often think I'd be better on my own

castles

What would happen if you very sweetly said "You know, you're probably right. I'm coming with you all as I'm sure they did mean to invite me."

That would show them

Anytime I think I'd be better off on my own the dcs start to play up considerably making me realize I cannot do the lone parent thing whatsoever. but then that's me...

Thanks Jabber. That's what my friend said! It's also what I would do if I was the person I used to be (pre DCs) and wasn't so worn down by our families in general.

I am pretty much a 'lone' parent already so not sure what excuse I have ... Sorry to be so miserable!!!

Aw Castles. I can't believe ILs when they do this - Doesn't it just label them as pathetic and silly?

DH had his tonsillectomy today. He's in bed now. DD1 has come down with CP and I'm waiting for a fortnight or so for dd2 to come down with it.

Run away! Run away! Swine flu has hit the Indith household. Both kids now on tamiflu. Me? Well I've just been sneezing for 2 weeks and am all achey, no need to check me out Dr

Indith hope you all get better soon. Don't think you can take tamiflu when bf my GP told me yesterday, which is odd since babies can have it . Look after yourselves.

Margo - hope your household are recovering too. Boo to CP - horrid, horrid. Hope they pass without too much trauma, although a couple of weeks in the house enough for anyone. Poor DH too.

Castles - can you recover your former self and just go for it? Did I see on FB a while back that all yours are at nursery/pre-school/school some of the time now or was that my imagination? Would you be able to get out and do some studying or work or something and get a bit of time to yourself? Situation with my family always seems worse to me when I'm down in myself, having another purpose seems to help me out.

ouch MArgo, do hope your dh is ok and that the CP isn't too bad.

I think we all (at least the SAHMs though the workers are free to join in)need to follow Eli and sign up for a course. We could start a movement, "I have a brain and I will use it". I need to do something before I go insane and my brain starts seeping out of my skull.

Children asleep. Ds has spent most of the day watching beebies. Struggled to get tamiflu down him though as they don't give the suspension to over 1s so you have to empty the capsule into something and get them to eat it. Trouble is only really sweet stuff masks it and we all know ds turns his nose up at sweet stuff. Poor boy though, spoonfull of calpol, spoonful of lactulose, attempts to persuade him to eat doctored yoghurt/drink juice with stuff in it. Dd covered in a rash, only slept in sling all day and not even wanted to eat nectarine (she would eat a nectarine at every meal given half the chance). I feel a fair bit better erally today, just feeling a bit dense that in retrospect I've been walking round for the past week or so with syptoms which of course means I've been at toddlers, bumps and babes etc . Dh claiming to feel rotten now. Are men allowed to have man swine flu? I feel he should be made to just have regular swine flu like everybody else and not manify it.

Off to bed, dd has yet to awake which is something of a miracle so shall see what happens. Last night ds and I slept together so I got him fussing and waking all night plus dd waking a million times and dh slept peacefully in ds's bed. He did have an interview at work today to be fair.

I think I'm going to sign myself up for another course (if we can afford it ) - want to do a management qualification. Thought it might come in handy at home work

I turn my back for a minute and CP and swine flu? You poor loves, hope both lots are recovering, Margo and Indith. I've read that Tamiflu is v bitter, poor ds...would cheese work, d'you think? I think bad CP is every bit as nasty as the less nasty cases of flu, for kids, so sympathy to all of you and get well soon.

Including Indith's dh, of swine and man flu both

Oh dear. CP and swine flu

Dont know if this helps with the Pox

Chickenpox Survival Guilde

Calomile cream (not lotion as it dries out)
PoxiCiln - foam from boots - expensive but really good.
Piriton syrup
bicarbinate of soda for the bath. Helps reduce acid in the spots or something and reduces itching.
Oats in a muslin for the bath - very soothing
Metanium cream for nappy area.
children's magazines a godsend. Free gift, puzzles and new stories were good distraction.
maybe a new DVD as an alternative distraction.
oversized t-shirts as they wont rub the spots and will cover most bits.
nail scissors - cut nails now so any scratching has less effect.

Thanks EV. Thankfully I've used all but Calomile cream.

EV - I'm going to e-mail you on FB

Great list EV, shall have to remember all that for when CP hits us, because it will at some point won't it.

Oh dear CP and SF you poor things.

There is a 2 day high temp thing going round the DCs school (no other symptoms). Unconfirmed case of SF a attached nursery.

Am longing for the holidays. Only a day to go

Goodness at the sickness

I have resisted whining posting until we got all of ds2's bloodwork back. It looks like he basically does have just a mysterious recurring fever that he will hopefully outgrow. A heartstopping 24 hours while they repeated one test to rule out hodgekins/non-hodgekins lymphoma among others but as of 4:30 today all seems well. My brother (the doctor) thinks that we just spent hundreds of dollars for nothing and that our doctor overdid it. I am actually thankful to have ruled out all of the scary things and am grateful to have found someone who understands that I cannot mentally go through another 6 months of this without some answers

castles, this may sound ridiculous but it is something I have done in the past when I feel that I have lost myself, so to speak. I remember how I used to be and I just start pretending/going through the motions of being that person again. It's a bit like putting on a costume at first but then it starts to feel more familiar and, well, not like pretending anymore iykwim. Hope that doesn't sound totally ridiculous

Glad anything nasty ruled out Jabber, hope it stops by itself soon.

Dd sooooo grumpy today, will only sleep (and neeeeds to sleep) in sling with finger (mine) in mouth.

Tisn't the pig flu that kills you though, tis the need to kill each other after being locked away for a few days. Dcs finish tamiflu tomorrow, hope symptoms gone by Monday so can leave the house Tis the breasfeeding picnic on Mon and I really want to go to see friends but not sure it is wise.